LEWISTON – Part of a $4.5 million federal grant will be used to fund art and cultural services in Lewiston.

Sens. Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development program has awarded $4,594,055 in rural business enterprise loans and grants to organizations throughout Maine.

“The USDA Rural Development program provides vital opportunities for rural Mainers to enhance community services and boost economic growth,” the senators said in a joint statement. “This funding will make possible a variety of rural community projects and essential training programs.”

In Lewiston, $400,000 in grant money will be dedicated to the Museum L-A. The funds will be used to enable Museum L-A to present a unique art/museum cluster including the Museum of Labor and Industry, Sports Hall of Fame, Veterans Museum, Civil War Museum, Androscoggin Historical Society, Lewiston Historical Commission and the Great Falls Model Railroad, as well as an in-house artist program.

Seven businesses will be assisted, nine jobs will be created and four jobs will be saved, according to Snowe and Collins.

The senators also said a $382,200 grant will be given to the Franco-American Heritage Center at St. Mary’s in Lewiston. The funds will be used for roof and faade improvements. This project will save or create 99 jobs, the senators said.

Other funding made possible through the grants is distributed as follows:

• $2,300,000 loan and $700,000 grant to Thomaston. The funds will be used for sewer main replacement and extension, two pump stations, and associated force mains from the town boundary line with Rockland along Route 1. The population to be served is 2,714.

• $350,000 grant to Caribou. The funds will be used to assist in the purchase of a 35,000-square-foot building and lease it to the Maine Military Authority, a refurbishment center for primarily HUMVEES.

• $298,856 grant to the Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Tribe in Perry.

• $99,999 grant to the Northern Maine Finance Corporation in Caribou.

• $63,000 grant to the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance in Old Town.

The USDA Rural Development program provides financial loans and grants to help improve the economy and quality of life in all of rural America. The funds are used for community programs, which seek to construct or improve community facilities for health care, public safety, and public services.

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